Blast-furnace.



No. 726,893. PATA'ENTED MAY 5, 1903. N. ERZIG. j

BLAST FURNACE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 26, 1903.

Patented May 5, 190

NICKOLAUS ERZIG, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO PETER IIUTI-I, OF Ol-IIQAGO, ILLINOIS.

BLAST-FU RNAC E.

' $1EC1FIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 726,893, dated May 5, 1903.

Application filed January 26, 1903. Serial No. 140,646. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, NICKOLAUS ERZIG, a citi- Zen of the United .States of America, and a resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Blast-Furnaces, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to blast-furnaces in which the material to be smelted is fed to the furnace by a bell and hopper at the upper end of same. With the arrangement of bell and hopper which is in common use the main bulk of the feed is directed toward the side walls of the smelting-chamber. In this way a large quantity of finely-divided matter is directed against the side walls or is carried toward same by the larger lumps. These fine particles adhere to the heated walls and soon accum ulate in large masses, which finally break away from the walls and fall to the bottom of the chamber, frequently causing dangerous explosions. The main objectof my invention is to provide a suitable construction at the upper end of the smelting-chamber which will avoid the formation of such masseson the side wallsof the chamber, and thus avoid the danger of such explosion. I accomplish this object by the device shownin the accompanying drawing, which represents a vertical section of a blast-furnace having feed devices embodying my invention, the remaining parts of the furnace' being broken away.

In the device shown the blast-furnace is constructed of masonry and has its interior cavity subdivided into a smelting-chamber 1 and a compartment 2, located above said smeltingchamber, The side walls of the smelting-chamber 1 are downwardly diverging at their upper part 3: The side walls 4 of the chamber 2 are downwardly converging and are free from obstructions to the mouth of the'aperture 5, through which the compartment 2 communicates with the chamber 1. The compartment 2 is closed at its upper end by a cap 6, which supports in its middle part a feed chute orhopper 7. The feedchu te 7 is closed at its lower end by means of a feedbell 8, which is provided with an upwardlyextending hollow stem 9 and is hung from a chain 10, which communicates with suitable close the aperture 5.

by means of ,the chains 19. suspended by means of a rod member 20,

truncated cone and is open at its ends, is suspended within the furnace so as to normally The lower part of the screen 11 is preferably provided with a ring 12, which fits the sides of the aperture 5. The screen 11 is hung from the chain 13, which controls the vertical disposition of saidscreen.

Located within the screen 11 in suitable manner to receive matter which passes movement therein being limited by contact between the-rim 18 and the screen 11 and its downward movement therein being limited The bell 17 is which extends upwardly through the hollow stem 9 of the bell 8 and connects with a chain 21, by means of which the bell 17 is supported and operated.

The operation of the device shown is as follows: The ore, fuel, flux, or other matter which is to be fed to the smelting-furnace is placed in the chute 7, and it is discharged from same into the compartment 2 when the bell 8 is lowered. Such particles of matter which are larger than the meshes of the screens 11 and 15 are retained thereby, while the more finely divided matter passes freely into the smelting-chamber 1. The downwardly-converging walls 4 of the compartment 2 tend to cause such particles of matter as are near the side walls of said chamher to flow toward the center of the smeltinging-chamber. The finely-divided matter is thus directed away from the side walls 3 of the smelting-chamberl and cannot adhere to same. The greater bulk of the remainder of the feedis retained by the screen 15. This screen is now lowered by lowering the chain 21, and its contents are not discharged until the chains 19 stop the downward movement of the screen 15, whereupon the continued movement of the bell 17 releases the matter A screen 11,

through the aperture 14 at the upper end of control the discharge held by the screen 15 and discharges same into the smelting-chamber 1. Since the side walls 3 of the smelting-chamber 1 converge downwardly, the screen 15 will at this point be a considerable distance inward of said side walls, and the matter discharged from same will not come into contact with said walls. The screen 11 is next lowered, and such mattter as has been retained thereby s released and discharged into the smeltingchamber 1. This is only a small part of the main bulk of the feed and contains very little finely-divided matter.

It will be seen that some of the details of the construction shown may be altered without departing from the spirit of my invention. I therefore do not confine myself to such details, except as hereinafter limited in the claims.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a blast-furnace, the combination of a smelting-chamber having at its upper end a feed-chute; a bell controlling said chute; a

hopper-shaped screen secured within said chamber below said chute; a second bell controlling the discharge of material retained in said screen, substantially as described.

2. In a blast-furnace, smelting-chamber having at its upper end a feed-chute; a bell controlling said chute; a hopper-shaped screen secured within said chamber below said chute; a second bell controlling the discharge of material retained in said screen; means for operating said bells independently of each other, substantially as described.

3. In a blast-furnace, the combination of a smelting-chamber having at its upper end a feed-chuteyia bell controlling said chute; a hopper-shaped screen secu red within said chamber belowsaid chute; a second bell controlling the discharge of material retained in said screen; said screen being vertically movable in said chamber; means for raising and lowering said screen; and means for operating said bells independently of each other and independently of the position of said screen, substantially as described.

4. Ina blast-furnace, the combination of a smelting-chamber having at its upper end a feed-chute; a bell controlling said chute; a hollow stem for operating said bell; a hopper-shaped screen secured below said chute within said chamber; a second bell controlling the discharge of matter retained by said screen, said hell being operated by a member extending upward through the hollow stem of said first bell, substantially as described.

5. In a blast-furnace, the combination of a smelting-chamber having at its upper end a feed-chute; a bell controlling said chute; a hollow stem for operating said bell; a hopper-shaped screen secured below said chute within said chamber, and being vertically movable therein; a second bell adapted to of matter retained by the combination of a said screen and to support said screen when in a raised position; said second bell being raised and lowered by a member extending upward through the hollow stem of said first bell; and means independent of said second bell for limiting the downward movement of said screen, substantially as described.

6. In a blast-furnace, the combination of a smelting-chamber having its side walls down- Wardly diverging at the upper part of same; a compartment above said smelting-chamber having downwardly-converging walls and communicating at its lower end with said smelting-chamber; a chute for discharging ore and similar matter into said compartment; a bell-valve controlling the discharge of matter from said chute; a screen extending across the lower open end of said compartment; and means for discharging into said smelting-chamber particles of matter which have been retained by said screen, substantially as described.

7. In a blast-furnace, the combination of a smelting-chamber having its side walls downwardly diverging at the upper part of same; a chute at the upper end of said smeltingchamber; a bell controlling said chute; a screen secured below said chute and adapted to retain matter coarser than the mesh of said screen; means for directing away from the side walls of said smelting-chamber particles of matter which pass the meshes of said screen; and means for discharging into said smelting-chamber the matter retained by said screen, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

8. In a blast-furnace, the combination of a smelting-chamber; a compartment above said smelting-chamber having downwardlyconverging side walls and communicating through a contracted aperture with the upper end of said smelting-chamber; a chute for discharging particles of matter into said compartment; a truncated conical screen open at its ends and fitting said aperture in suitable manner to control the passage of bulky matter along the side walls of said compartment and into said smelting-chamber, said screen being vertically movable in suitable manner to release from said compartment matter which has been retained by said screen; means for raising and lowering said screen; a hopper-shaped screen secured within said conical screen and adapted to receive matter passing through the upper end of said conical screen; and a bell-valve controlling the discharge of matter from said hopper-shaped screen, substantially as described.

9. In a blast-furnace, the combination of a smelting-chamber; a compartment above said smelting-chamber having downwardlyconverging side Walls and communicating through a contracted aperture with the upper end of said smelting-chamber; a chute for discharging particles of matter into said compartment; a truncated conical. screen open,

IIO

at its ends and fitting said aperture in suitable manner to control the passage of bulky matter along the side walls of said compartment and into said smelting-chamber; said screen being vertically movable in suitable manner to release from said compartment matter which has been retained by said screen; means for raising and .lowering said screen; a hopper-shaped screen secured within said conical screen and adapted toreceive matter passing through the upper end of said conical screen; and a bell-valve controlling the discharge of matter from said hopper-shaped screen; said hopper-shaped screen being vertically movable within said conical screen; and said bell-valve being arranged to release matter from said hopper-shaped screen only when said hopper-shaped screen is lowered away from said conical screen, substantially P20 as described.

10. In a blast-furnace, the combination of a smelting-chamber; a compartment above said smelting-chamber having downwardlyconverging side walls and communicating through a contracted aperture with the upper end of said smelting-chamber; a chute for discharging particles of matter into said compartment; a truncated conical screen open at its ends and fitting said aperture in suitable manner to control the passage of bulky matter along the side walls of said compartment and into said' smelting-chamber; said screen being vertically movable in suitable manner to release from said compartment matter which has been retained by said screen; means for raisingand lowering said screen; a hopper-shaped screen secured within said conical screen and adapted to receive 11. In a blast-furnace, the combination of.

a smelting-chamber; a compartment above said smelting-chamber having downwardlyconverging side walls and communicating through a contracted aperture with the upper end of said smelting-chamber; a chute for discharging particles of matter into said compartment; a truncated conical screen open at its ends and fitting said aperture in suitable manner to control the passage of bulky matter along the side walls of said compartment and into said smelting-chamber; said screen being vertically movable in suitable manner to release from said compartment matter which has been retained upon and around said screen; and means for controlling the discharge of matter through the middle open part of said screen, substantially as described.

Signed at Chicago this 19th day of January,

NIGKOLAUS ERZIG. Witnesses:

WM. R. RUMMLER, BLANCHE MICHAEL. 

